


Injustice

by sadfuckboy



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: M/M, continuing after the events of the latest episode, ongoing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-05-03 05:34:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14561979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadfuckboy/pseuds/sadfuckboy
Summary: Literal teenagers are getting killed only because of where they come from.In the middle of the fight between Serpents and the Dark circle, South and North side of Riverdale, are Jughead and Sweetpea. In the mist of over dramatic rich people and town-wide capitalistic schemes the only thing the two boys want is peace for the people less fortunate.





	1. Blood once again

**Author's Note:**

> this is short but i'm going to continue this more!! posting this really unfinished because i have a literature thesis about Lolita I need to / want to make quickly.
> 
> But yea, this story is my attempt at trying to make something actually serious about Riverdale's concepts that the writers clearly don't want to do anything with despite their potential to be interesting af. (I'm talking about the division between the poor and the rich in Riverdale. And how spoiled and guite frankly fucked up many of the people of the north side are (for example betty and her whole family, archie (dumb bitch), Reggie for using violence without any good proof. (DUMB BITCH TM) and how they take it out on southside residents). And how rational and good hearted people the serpents often end up being (they mostly always have a clear justification for violence and always regret their bad actions. and always help those who need it.) And I see them as a force created to help the less fortunate and to form a family. kinda similarly to how many mafias where first formed.)  
> Also this is me prepping my rare ship.   
> (edit: i thought it was reggie who shot fangs. apparently it was the black hood. but jeah.)
> 
> Check my art at sohjoa.tumblr.com

Cold hospital lights make the green on a serpent jacket pop. the reptile slithers across the white halls when a child of the southside walks forward. Sweetpea’s knuckles bleed and he almost hits his head on a hanging light. Jaw clenched, posture stiff, wet boots squeak on the tiles.

He turns around a corner and jughead jumps up from his seat.

“Sweetpea what the fu-”  
“how is he”

“come here” Jughead pulls him into a formal but brotherly hug to calm him down. the taller boy crouches down a little to help with the gesture but also taps his back to be let loose. The few other young serpents in the room turn their faces back to the floor.

Jughead looks angrily at the bruises on Sweetpea’s face, holding him slightly close from the shoulders. Muttering with a frown.“They won’t let us in. We’re not family.”  
“But we _are_.” Sweetpea’s pose and voice drip anger and frustration.

“Not the way they want and you know it.” Jughead looks and sound bitter, mad, because he knows how Sweetpea feels. But doesn’t like always being the sane one. The one calming others down and being the middle ground. But still uses all his power to at least give him the drop of information he has. To smooth it all down. To loosen the tensed pose on Sweetpea's body.

“Fangs.. He’s critical but will survive.“

  
Sweetpea takes a moment. Staring with unreadable eyes and a distant look, but finally nods. Face relaxing a little and posture becoming less stiff, but mind clearly still racing. Adrenaline was pumping in his veins due to something. Jughead clearly saw that and it kept his eyes on Sweetpea. Who slowly backs away from Jughead’s hold. Eyes absent as he moves to sit down. Fliching at the fresh bruises on his tighs. Blincking at the blurred eyesight on his black eye.

  
Metal chains click and Jughead moves to stands before him. Staring down at the wet black hair and long neck.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Sweetpea raises his head to stare. Jughead's gaze pulls and pushes with the weight of anger, concern and hopelessness. To jughead the Riverdale was moralless, Sweetpea a cause of anxiety and Fangs a personal feeling of guild. He was so exhausted and sad. Achie had dropped him off the hospital with a tearful apology and a long hug. Jughead had to place his palms on his mouth before he stopped all that talking and promises to protect them all and deal with the situation.

Sweetpea doesn’t answer. A little blood drops from his lip to his shirt as he turns his head away from Jughead.  
Jugheads voice raises a pitch and his shoulders slump in worry. “None of us has time for this Sweetpea. What did you do?”

Sweetpea glares at him, then gestures with his hands in irritation and sits back on his chair. “The fuck do you think?! Took it all out on Reggie Mantel!”

Jughead’s posture stiffens and eyes widen. He did think about it, but still. Breath uneven and practically screaming with his last breath of energy. “This is not a situation where you can jus-”  
“HE DESERVES IT.” Sweetpea sprung up from his seat to stare Jughead down. Every fiber of his being tense. Jaw clenched but eyes teary. Voice quivering as he stared Jughead deep into his eyes, gesturing and shaking.

“Reggie Mantel is a monster! Nothing i ever did to him could compare to what he has done. This whole dark circle thing is ridiculous, the way they act against us like we’re wrong to just exist! They see our home as evil and let us die. You can’t protect or justify that Jughead, no one can! Just, stop asking, stop acting like i did something wrong. I’m not- ..I won’t-..” he stuttered, voice withering down and stopping. He lowered his hands from above his head. Face shocked and confused.  
Jughead was silently crying and staring at him. Looking more desperate and older than Sweetpea had ever seen him. No trace of his usual sense of always knowing what to do.

Jughead's body was loose like a raggedy doll as his own words twisted it around. “Do you think that I don’t know, that I don’t think of all of those things?! I have felt as little justice as you have, I have been treated the same, disgusting, soulless way you have! But in the end only thing my fighting has caused is getting my family closer to harm. We fucking lost Sweetpea. We will always fucking loose. There is no war, only slaughter. Stop fighting. Just stop!” He gripped Sweetpeas shoulder so hard it hurt more than any of his bruises. “You aren’t fucking immortal.” There was a lot in that statement. The grip tightened and then completely fell off.  
Jughead kept his gaze away. He was so fucking tired.  
Sweetpea knew to stay quiet. Not that he knew what to say either. Staring at the loose pieces of skin on his hands and the seams on Jughead’s jacket. Anger and frustration long gone from his body, replased by being lost and hopeless as the weight of everything truly sank in. Looking around and picking his sleeves but quickly getting frustrated with that. Fucking lost.

Jughead took a deep breath after a moment of hectically pacing around in a small circle and being mad at himself. Turning to Sweetpea with a defeated and sorrowful face. “lets go patch you up.”  
“It’s ok i don’t need-” Jughead took his arm and started to drag him along. Sweetpea whimpered at the sudden movement.


	2. child

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> been a while. this propably isn't that revarding as a chapter but i wanted to write this to get where i want to go. also i can't remember half of the riverdale lore. im fully caught up on it so now idk what happened when.

Jughead’s face was curled in a hurtful scowl as he rummaged through medication shelfs. He took deep breaths every few seconds and every time he dropped something. Hands slightly shaking even though his fuming mind had calmed down and he was now deep in thought. He barely felt bad for the mess they had made in the room a nurse had let them in. His daddy had of course raised him right, but right now the dirty clothes and fallen bandage packets were a necessary sacrifice.

Behind him sat Sweetpea. On the floor on top of his serpent jacket. stripped down to boxers and one of the bigger shirts from Jughead, who dressed in so many layers that some of them luckily fitted Sweetpea. Who's clothes were all ripped and wet.  
Cold floor tiles sting his calves and his mind was far from the relative calm Jughead had achieved. He could only stare at the back of Jughead’s jacket, now tied around his waist, and delve in self hate.  
If nothing else, making the kid who was the crowned serpent king cry was a thing that made him realise how little he thought about his actions. He was afraid of what would happen now, what more jughead could say to him.  
It’s not like he didn’t get on people’s nerves all the time. It’s not like he hadn’t been sorry before, but it just never got easier. Every time it got worse, because he never learned, and now it might have caused him a relationship. 

Jughead’s boots squeaked against the floor as he slowly turned around. Eyes studying the etiquette of a disinfectant. “ok..” While finishing his reading he moved to sit cross legged on the floor. “Pretty sure this is the one that doesn’t burn your skin off.” Sweetpea just quietly nodded and stared at the floor. 

Jughead eyed at him. and started to roll out a clean piece of cloth. It’s not hard to read Sweetpea, and because of that his thoughts had calmed, almost softened. Almost. The way the taller boy avoided eye contact and looked like he’d sold all his land reminded Jughead about how none of the kids in this town were the devil. He took the initiative to spare the shaking boy in his feet. 

“i’m not mad at you.”

Sweetpea stopped mentally beating himself for a moment. And turned to look at Jughead, who took his gaze with a challenge. Jughead wasn’t surprised when Sweetpea answered only with his confused stare. And soon even turned away in his ashamement.  
Jughead shrugged. “I’ve gotten used to all this” 

The way dread poured into Sweetpea was almost comically visible.  
Was he really that person? That person who has gone so far that by now his actions have become forgiven just because he’s not expected to change. He’s whole posture well even lower than it was before. Eyes zoning out to the lines on the ground.

“Give me your hand.” Sweetpea lifted his arm still deeply in his mind and let Jughead pulls his knuckles closer. He inspects them carefully enough to make Sweetpea feel naked or like he’s about to be scolded and unceremoniously pours a generous amount of disinfectant on the dirty cuts. Sweetpea feels tears pushing to the surface of his eyes from the pain but bites his teeth to keep them down. Wave of coldness running through him.  
Jughead waits almost weirdly long before he cleaned the excess liquid off and started to roll bandages over the bruises.

Sweetpea had no idea what to say, so the taller boy just took the disinfectant and, while breathing in between his teeth, started to pour it over all of his bigger cuts. Trying to make an effort cleaning his own problems. Small rivers of sand and dust mixed with the blood and cleaner rolled down his knees. His body burned all around, from heart to crust. He should have taken a shower. Now his limbs were full of stripes of clean but aching skin in between layers of dirt.

Sweetpea only opened his mouth when he no longer could take the unbearable silence. He started with his will to get a second change and what his momma had taught him to always say.  
“I’m.. I’m fucking sorry.”

Jughead sighed but couldn’t help the small smirk the swearword ignited on his face. “Saying you’re sorry doesn’t help with this. You’re supposed to have these thoughts before you do shit.” Sweetpea nodded along. Feeling ashamed that such basics were said to him like to a toddler, but acknowledged that he really did act like he didn’t know this before. He grimaced like a child to the situation while damp hair irritated his face.

“But i can see that at least this time you really are sorry, which is good at least. Sweetpea all we want from you is that you’d consider your own health and to just- think. Even just a little. Before you act.” Something in the way his name was said made Sweetpea want to turn around and stare. But he tried to concentrate only on what came after it. Tried to make the billionth time he had promised to change count.  
He still couldn’t look the other in the eye, even when he had realised that Jughead truly wasn’t mad at him. But nodded shyly to the floor. “I’ll do that.”

Jughead smacked the back of his head like a vigorous mother. “You better.” He didn’t feel there was more that Sweetpea could have said for now. The whole issue was anyway about actions in the end.

Bit by bit the weight crumbled down from on top of Sweetpea’s lungs. Left was mostly aching and desperate need to get on with his aims to prove he’d change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im trans. check my tumblr. @sohjoa


End file.
